Campbell County Community News

Where can you learn web design, hone your Microsoft skills, and get tips on succession planning for your business?

The Campbell County Public Library System, specifically Campbell County Public Library and Wright Branch Library, is the correct answer.

The learning opportunities offered by your libraries now extend beyond the buildings themselves to online. They are accessible from office and home, and it’s free to cardholders.

Lynda.com is a website with more than 3,000 courses and more than 130,000 videos from web design, marketing and media production, to business essentials. It typically costs $24.99 a month to subscribe to the site. But cardholders at any county library can get all of Lynda’s content for free. The idea is to give patrons another way to continue learning when the libraries are closed or when they cannot make a visit.

“You can learn things from online marketing to word processing skills. There's a boatload of information there in the database,” says Adult Program Coordinator Genevieve Schlekeway.

Patrons can get to Lynda.com by logging in through the library’s website with their library card and pin numbers. After creating an account – which only requires a name and e-mail address – users are set. They can watch any videos, create playlists, download course files and bookmark pages.

Once signed up, library members can get access to Lynda at the library, on their desktop computers or on their mobile devices. The only caveat is that they must use a web browser, not the Lynda app.

“We’re excited to be able to offer the opportunity to use the library’s services without necessarily being in the building,” said CCPLS Executive Director Terri Lesley. “We want to be accessible to patrons on their own time and at their own pace.”

The Lynda.com videos are more in-depth and have higher production values than many tutorials on YouTube, library Lesley said. The website is owned by LinkedIn.

To get free Lynda.com access as a Campbell County Public Library System cardholder, visit: ccpls.info/Lynda